TIPI and psychotherapy 16 août 2014

Psychotherapy generally considers the physical or emotional shock that immediately precedes the appearance of the symptoms of emotional distress as the origin of one’s suffering. For psychotherapists, therapy is focused on this event (which seems logical to call initial because of the absence of an emotional manifestation before it). The difficulty of regulating chronic emotional distress in psychotherapy may be explained by the fact that the chronic state seems to be systematically provoked by an event before having led to a loss of consciousness. This first event has been hidden in the conscious memory and is inaccessible via a traditional psychological inquiry.

Nevertheless, more and more frequently in recent decades, certain psychotherapists are looking for the initial traumatic event within the prenatal period, and often this event is correctly identified. And yet, this does not mean that the person can deactivate the block that stops the regulation of the emotional difficulty, because this first event is approached with an essentially intellectual and psychological point of view.

Of course, the event at the origin of a loss of consciousness can be assimilated with the triggering traumatic event which is normally sought by therapists. But this quest is generally limited to a psychological angle, which entails an essentially rational interpretation of the event. For example, if the fetus cohabits with a non-viable twin, the traumatism, if identified, is analyzed in terms of relationship implications (distress, solitude, abandonment, dependent relationships with others, incapacity to maintain relationships or, on the contrary, incapacity to accept break-ups, etc). The same event can be approached via the physical sensations of fear and can lead to, for example, sensorily reliving the loss of consciousness provoked by the phenomenon of strong aspiration which accompanies the evacuation of the dead twin. By dealing with the repulsive sensations created by the situation, the physical risk the person underwent is emphasized, whereas by psychologically analyzing the person’s relationship with the event, it is the affective relationship of the person with their environment that is focused on. From a physical point of view, the disappearance of a twin is a very violent event which threatens the survival of the other. From a psychological point of view, this disappearance is mainly considered as an affective absence that is hard to overcome. In fact, it is certainly the physical sensations felt during a particularly unpleasant event that induces undesirable psychological repercussions. Later on, the analytical introspection is limited to the psychological impact and does not go into the heart of the physical suffering.

Of course, we are more at ease with a psychological approach, but only our physical sensations can reliably lead us to the origin of our emotional suffering and allow us to regulate the distress definitively.